Syracuse football postgame analysis of the West Virginia game plan: the offense

Syracuse football tailback Prince-Tyson Gulley breaks off a long gainer during the Orange's 38-14 victory Saturday over West Virginia in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.Frank ordoñez / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- Considering West Virginia porous pass defense – 328.3 yards per game allowed and 36 touchdown passes yielded – it is hard to envision a Syracuse football tailback, a backup one at that, being named the bowl MVP of the third annual New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, a 38-14 Orange victory. An exception would be SU coach Doug Marrone, who authored an offensive game plan that was based on a commitment to the ground game.

“I feel good about our ability to run the football,” Marrone said on the eve of the game. “I think there are a lot of good things open for us against this team, but we have to be able to score touchdowns and we have to run it to set up play-action. If the weather is bad (the forecast was accurately calling for Saturday’s mess by Friday morning) I like our backs better than theirs.”

The reason was simple. SU’s junior tandem of Jerome Smith and Prince-Tyson Gulley was more suited to the king of power running required on slippery footing than West Virginia’s perimeter-attacking Tavon Austin.

Marrone saw potential deep plays to his receivers, too, as well as the kind of pop passes to the tight end that had produced three touchdowns in last season’s 49-23 upset of the Mountaineers in the Carrier Dome. But the foundation of the plan would be the ground game, which had produced 194 yards vs. WVU last season, allowing Syracuse to control the ball for nearly 36 of the game’s 60 minutes.

In the end, when the weather made all but screens and other safe passes an adventure, the foundation crushed the Mountaineers. Running the same inside zone play over and over again behind a dominant offensive line, Syracuse racked up a season-high 369 yards rushing. Gulley produced a career-high 208 and scored twice, one of them on a slick double-bounce, inside-out 67-yard display of power and balance. He also caught a team-high five passes for 56 yards and another TD to run away with the MVP award.

Gulley nearly outgained West Virginia himself (264-285). Smith added 157 yards on 30 carries. Their performance, which was aided greatly by the overpowering work of the offensive line, offset the weather-induced struggles of quarterback Ryan Nassib (a season-low 134 yards) and his receivers.

The plan for balance went out the window eventually, but the commitment to repeat last season’s success on the ground vs. West Virginia produced huge dividends, as SU once again ruled the clock (36:23 to 23:17) and thus the game.